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PONTELAND TOWN COUNCIL

Website Accessibility Statement for www.ponteland-tc.gov.uk

 

This website is run by Ponteland Town Council

We want everyone who visits our website to be able to access the full range of services available, regardless of their skill or technology.  That means you should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA AND Voice-Over

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability

How accessible this website is

We know some content uploaded to this website is not fully accessible:

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

 

What to do if you have problems or queries

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PHD, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please contact us on the details below:

  • email: enquiries@ponteland-tc.gov.uk
  • Telephone: 01661 825092
  • Write to Mrs K Mavin, Clerk to the Council, Unit 1 Meadowfield Court, Meadowfield Industrial Estate, Ponteland, NE20 9SD.

We will consider your request and aim to get back to you in 10 working days.

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking at ways to improve the accessibility of this website.  If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements contact the Clerk to the Council at one of the methods listed below:

  • email: enquiries@ponteland-tc.gov.uk
  • Telephone: 01661 825092
  • Write to Mrs K Mavin, Clerk to the Council, Unit 1 Meadowfield Court, Meadowfield Industrial Estate, Ponteland, NE20 9SD.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Ponteland Town Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Under the Equality Act 2010 we must ensure we do not unlawfully discriminate in our service delivery and make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities where necessary. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our site.

This website framework is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.  Some content is partially compliant due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

Some pages may contain attachments which are not currently compliant, such as:

  • Older PDF files such as Meeting Minutes, Agendas or financial document published before September 2018.
  • Content produced by third parties or using third party software.

 

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

We will do all we can to identify content that is non-compliant.

Some images may not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information.  This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1.(non-text content).

We hope to add text alternatives for all images by 23rd September 2020, we will make it clear if this not possible for certain images.  When we publish new content we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility content.

Disproportionate burden

  • Documents that are supplied to us by other organisations will not be edited to make them accessible

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

  • PDFs and documents: many of our older PDF documents don’t meet accessibility standards and may not be marked up so they’re accessible to a screen reader. The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. Where PDFs were published prior to that date we make a statement to that effect at the bottom of each page where such PDF’s are located.
  • Any new PDFs or Word documents created by us will meet accessibility standards.

How we test the site

We re-assess a website or system for accessibility whenever it undergoes a major modification.  A quarterly accessibility check will be carried out by our website designers, Aubergine.

Most page content is checked every time it is updated.

Review

We will keep this accessibility statement under review and will amend it when necessary to ensure our commitment to bringing our website in line with the appropriate legislation.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15th September 2020. It was last reviewed on 22nd September 2020.

This website was last tested in September 2022. The test was carried out by Aubergine our website developers.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test